Packaging apparatus



De- 6, 1960 A. c. H. MAARTNEY 2,962,850

` PACKAGING APPARATUS Filed May 4, 1960 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 A. c. H. MACARTNEY A 259623850 PAcKAGmG APPARATUS 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 6, 1960 Filed May 4, 1960 D 6, 1960 A. c. H. MAcAR'rNEY 2,962,850

PACKAGING APPARATUS 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 4. 1960 V BY V 2M Dec. 6, 196() A. c. H. MACARTNEY PACKAGING APPARATUS Filed Hay 4, 1960 8 Sheets-Sheec 4 IMI' INVENTOR ATTO R N EY lo. 0. u.

DBC- 5 1950 A. c. H. MACARTNEY 2,962,850

PACKAGING APPARATUS Filed may 4, 1960 s sheets-sheet s |Hlm A XNVENTOR ATTORNEY Dec. 6, 1960 A. c. H. MAcARTNI-:Y 2,962,850

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| I I l a ATTO R N EYJ Dec. 6, 1960 A. c. H. MACARTNEY 2,962,850

PACKAGING APPARATUS Filed May 4, 1960 a sheetsnsneet 7 y ,k m

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De- 6, 1960 A. c. H. MAcARTNl-:Y 2,952,850

PACKAGING APPARATUS 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed May 4, 1960 84 JNVENTOR. @a/15X PACKAGING APPARATUS Amherst C. H. Macartney, New Haven, Conn., assignor to The New Haven Board & Carton Company, New Haven, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed May 4, 1960, Ser. No. 26,882

17 Claims. (Cl. 53--191) This invention relates to packaging or cartoning apparatus and is concerned more particularly with a novel machine for producing packages each containing a row of similar articles enclosed in a carton of the wrap-around type having openings through which portions of the articles protrude. The new machine is of simple, inexpensive construction and it functions to shape a at carton blank to proper form to receive the portions of the articles through the openings, delivers the articles to the shaped blank in such manner that the portions of the articles enter the openings, and then wraps the blank about the articles and secures the overlapped edges of the blank together. The machine is preferably so constructed that it produces a plurality of packages simultaneously by the use in each packaging operation of a multiple section blank, each section being of a size suitable for a single package. The articles for all sections of the blank are fed thereto simultaneously and, after the packaging operation is completed, the sections of the blank wrapped about the articles are separated to form the desired iinal packages.

The machine may be employed advantageously in the packaging of containers with necks, such as bottles, and a form of the machine operable to produce packages containing three bottles in a row will be illustrated and described in detail for purposes of explanation. In the machine shown, blanks suitable for forming 6 three-bottle pack-ages are employed and, after completion of the initial 18 bottle package, the multiple package is subdivided into the nal packages before being discharged from the machine.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be made to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a typical form of the new machine;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the machine ready for a packaging operation;

Figs. 3 and 4 are views similar to Fig. 2 and showing` the machine at successive stages in a packaging operation;

FigsfS and 6 are sectional views on the lines 5-5 of Fig. 3 and 6*6 of Fig. 4, respectively;

` Fig. 7 is a sectional View on the line 7-7 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 8 is a vertical longitudinal view showing the action of the pushers;

Fig. 9 is a plan view of a blank for use'in the machine;

Fig. 10 is a rear elevational view of the machine; and

Figs. 11-17, incl., are fragmentary vertical longitudinal sectional views illustrating the sequence of operations performed on the blank in the machine.

The machine illustrated in the drawings includes a frame structure made up of side frames 11 connected by end frames 12. The structure has a front platform 13 and a rear platform 14, the platforms being at and the front at a higher level than the rear. A pair of sides 15 extend upward from the front platform near its side edges and support a table 16 at the front of the machine. The table top is subdivided by spaced parallel vertical ribs 17 into a plurality of lanes receiving rows of bottles B.

United States Patent O The sides 15 are connected to the rear of the table 16 by a plate 18 extending downwardly toward the rear of the machine and provided on its upper surface with spaced ribs 19 of triangular cross-section extending lengthwise of the machine and with the plate forming the upper sections of runways aligned with respective lanes on the top of table 16. A bar 20 extends between the sides at the lower end of the plate 1S and it has a flat top section aligned with each rib 19 and inclined top sections aligned with the runways between the ribs. A plurality of vertical parallel plates 21 extending lengthwise of the machine are mounted on spaced bars 22 also extending lengthwise of the machine and supported above the platform 13 on cross-pieces 23 resting on the platform. The plates 21 lie in alignment with the upper sections of the runways and the upper surfaces of the plates incline downwardly to the rear so as to serve as the lower sections of the runways.

A plate 24 extending tranversely of the machine is hinged along its rear edge to a cross-bar 25 connecting the sides 15 and is hinged along its front edge to the vertical wall 26 of a bottle delivery device, which includes a support 27 secured to the wall at its lower edge and extending horizontally therefrom and in the plane of the table 16. The support 27 is of a depth to receive a single row of bottles from the table 16, and the wall is provided with ribs 28 similar to the ribs and aligned with the vertical ribs 17 on the table 16.

The bottle delivery device functions to transfer a row of bottles to the upper end of the runways and deliver them neck first into the runways. For this purpose, the piston rod 29 of a iiuid cylinder 30 is secured to the plate 24 nea-r its forward edge by a pivot fitting 31, the reverse end of the cylinder being attached by a similar fitting 32 to a cross-bar 33 attached to the side frames 11. A link plate 34 hinged at its rear edge to a cross-bar 35 con necting the sides 15 extends through an opening in the plate 24 and is hinged at its forward edge to the rear face of the wall 26 between the upper and lower edges of the wall. When uid is supplied to the cylinder to move the piston rod outwardly, the plate 24 and the bottle delivery device 26, 27, are moved upward angularly and, at the same time, the device is swung on its hinge connection to the plate 34 so that the wall 26 moves into alignment with the plate 18` The movement of the device is arrested by a plate 35a secured to the under-surface o-f the plate 18 and projecting forwardly therefrom and, when the wall 26 comes to rest upon the plate 35a, the bottles slide from the upper surface of the wall 26 and into the upper sections of the runways on the plate 18. A barrier wall 36 is attached to the rear edge of a plate 37 hinged at its front end to a cross-bar 38 secured to the under-surface of the table 16. The hinge is of the spring type and urges the plate 37 clockwise toward the under-surface of the table. When the bottle vdelivery device is in position to vreceive a row of bottles from the table 16, the top of the `port (Fig. 11) for the blank B1, which is shown in plan in Fig. 9. The blank is provided with a row of 18 circular openings 41 for receiving the necks: of the bottles to be packaged and also has spaced rows of 18 semi-circular openings 42 each, through which the edges of the bases of the bottles project in the completed package to secure the bottles firmly in position.

In order to place the carton blanks in condition and 3 position to receive the bottles from the runways, a plate 43 is secured to the uppersurface of a plate 44, which is attached to a cross-bar 45 hinged at its rear edge to the plate 39. A plurality of spaced blades 46 aligned with the ribs 19 between the bottle runways and with the plates 21 are secured to the undersurface of the plate 43 and the plate 43 is connected by a pivot tting 47 to the end of the piston rod 48 of a fluid cylinder 49 connected at its rear end by a similar fitting 50 to a cross-bar 51 connecting uprights 52 forming part of the frame structure of the machine. A cross-bar 53 is secured to the forward edge of the carton blank support plate 39 and, when the plate 43 with the blades 46 is swung forwardly by the action of the cylinder 49, the blades engage ablank B1 resting at its ends upon the plate 39 and the bar 20 .and force the central zone of the blank against the tops of the bars 22, as shown in Figs. 3 and 12. In such movement of the blank, it is bent along the crease line 54 to provide a vertical wall v55 lying against the forward face of the cross-bar 53 and containing the neck openings 41. The lower edges of the blades 46 are so `shaped as to form the section of the blank between the crease line 56 and the front edge of the blank into an inclined wall 57 overlying the plates 21 forming the lower sections of the bottle runways.

When the bottles have been delivered into the upper ends lof the runways, they slide downward and over the inclined wall 57 of the blank. In such movement, the bottles are guided beyond the lower ends of the upper Vsections ofthe runways between the ribs 19 on the plate 18, by the blades 46 which remain in contact with the blank until the necks of the bottles have passed through the openings 41 in the blank. As soon as the bottles have entered the runways, the cylinder 30 returns the delivery device to its initial position at the rear edge of the table 16 and, when the bottle necks have entered the openings 41, the cylinder 49 returns the plate 43 with its blades 46 to the rear or inoperative position. The

blank With the bottles in place is then moved to the rear and folded about the bottles thereon.

The rearward movement of the blank and bottles is effectedrby a plurality of vertical pusher plates 58 attached to a plate 59 movable along the platform 13 beneath the bars 22, the pushers extending between and above the bars. The plate 59 forms part of a carriage including side plates 60 having metal plates 61, which carry rollers 62 running in tracks 63 attached to the under side of the platform 13. The carriage is reciprocated lengthwise of the machine by a fluid cylinder 64 attached by a pvot fitting 65 to a cross-member 66 of the frame structure. The piston rod 67 of the cylinder is connected by a similar fitting 68 to a bar 69 hinged at its upper end to a cross-bar 70 on the carriage. The lower end of the bar 69 is hinged to one end of a link 71, the other end of which is hinged to a cross-member 72 of the frame structure.

The rear edges of the pusher plates 58 are concave and, when they are moved toward the rear, they act initially on the inclined wall 57 of the carton blank to fold it around the bases of the bottles and to the rear, as shown in Fig. 13. The pushers then engage the blank in contact with the bases of the bottles and advance the blank to the rear. As the blank passes beneath the folding bar 53, the vertical wall 55 of the blank engages the lower forward edge of the bar and is folded forwardly, as shown in Fig. 14. The blank is provided with `an area 73 coated with a pressure-sensitive adhesive and, when the vertical wall of the blank is forced forwardly, the wall is brought into overlapping relation with the wall 57 with the coated area 73 between the overlapped portions of thewalls. In the further movement of the blank, the overlapped portions of the walls are kept in contact by a row of spaced bars 74 attached to the lower surfaces of the bar 53 and a bar 75 secured to the undersurface of the plate 39, the bars being arranged to permit the passage of the pushers 58 between them. A plurality of spring-pressed rollers 76 are attached to the bar 75 and press upon the overlapped sections of the blank to complete their adhesion and produce the multiple package, as shown in Fig. 15.

A pair of side plates 77 rise from the rear platform 14 and lie outwardly from and in overlapping relation t0 the sides 15. A slotted plate 78 is mounted above the platform 14 on a cross-member 79 connecting the plates 77 and on blocks 80 on respective spaced plates 81 attached to a cross-member 82 on top of the platform 14. A plurality of pusher plates 83 rising from a cross-member 84 are connected at their upper ends by a cross-bar 85, on top of which are mounted blocks 86 having upper surfaces inclined downwardly toward the rear. The cross-member 84 is connected at its ends by plates S7 to longitudinal members 88 of a carriage having metal plates 89 with rollers 90 running in tracks 91 attached to the undersurface of platform 14. The carriage is reciprocated along the tracks 91 by a fluid cylinder 92 having its piston rod 93 connected by a fitting 94 to a cross-bar 95 forming part of the carriage, the rear end of the cylinder being connected by a similar fitting 96 to an end frame 12.

When the multiple package is advanced by the pushers 58 beneath the rollers 76, the package slides down the beveled rear end sections 22a of the bars 22 and over the tops of the blocks 86 to land upon the top of the slotted plate 78. Thereafter, the cylinder 92 is operated to move the carriage to the rear and the pushers 83 engage the package and advance it along the plate. In such movement, the package passes beneath a resiliently covered roll 97 mounted for rotation in bearings on the side plates 77 and between upper and lower disks 98, 99 (Figs. 16, 17). The disks 98 are mounted on studs secured to blocks 100 attached to the top of a plate 101 supported by a cross-bar 102 connecting the side plates 77 and the disks extend through openings in the plate to engage the top surface of a package passing beneath the plate. The disks 99 are mounted on studs secured to blocks 103 attached to the undersurface of the plate 78 and extend upward through the slots in the plate to engage the bottom surface of a package moving over the plate.

The blank B1 is subdivided into 3 bottlersections by perforated lines 104 and cuts 105 and, in a completed multiple package, the perforated lines extend along the sides of the package and the cuts extend across the top and bottom. As the package is advanced beneath the disks 98, 99, the disks rupture the carton along the perforated lines 104 and convert the multiple package into 6 nal vunit packages 106, each containing 3 bottles.

The pushers 83 move the unit packages olf the rear end of plate 78 and the packages land uponV the upper stretch of a conveyor belt 107. The belt is trained about rollers 108, 109 mounted on extensions 14a attached to the platform 14 and runs over the top of a plate 110 resting on the plates 81. The belt s driven by a motor 111 mounted on the frame structure and it carries the unit packages from the machine and discharges them at a convenient place for removal.

The bottles are delivered to the lanes on table 17 by a .conventional conveyor which keeps the lanes filled at all times during the operation of the machine. A supply of blanks BL is stacked on a shelf 112 secured to a side frame member 11 of the machine about midway between its ends. A second shelf 113 is attached to shelf 112 and carries two push button switches 114, 115.

The operation of the machine is controlled by conventional circuits which include a timer, and, when a cylinders 30 and 49 to operate to raise the bottle delivery device 26, 27 and to lower the carton blank former consisting of the plates 43, 44, the bar 45, and the blades 46. A limit switch 116 is mounted on one of the side plates 77 and is operable by an arm 117 carrying a roller lying between a pair of plates 118, 119 attached to opposite faces of the plate 44. As the blank former moves down, the switch 116 is operated to start the timer and the timer functions to cause the cylinders 30, 49 to maintain the bottle delivery device in its up position and the blank former in its down position for an interval, during which the bottles slide down the runways until their necks enter the circular openings 41 in the blank. At the end of the interval, the timer functions to reverse the action of the cylinders 30, 49 so that the bottle delivery device moves toward its down position and the former toward its up position.

A switch 120 is mounted on the side plate 77 adjacent the switch 116 and it is operated by an arm 121 pressed by a spring against the plate 118. When the former has been raised, so that the lower edges of its blades are out of the path of travel of the top edges of the pusher plates 58, the switch 120 is actuated and it closes a circuit which causes the cylinder 64 to move its piston inward so that the front carriage 59, 60 is moved to the rear. In such movement, the pushers 58 fold the inclined wall section 57 of the blank about the bases of the bottles and against their upper sides, after which the movement of the bottles beneath the cross-bar 53 causes the vertical wall section S5 of the blank to be folded down and secured to the upper surface of the section 57 to complete the multiple package. To insure the proper folding of the blank when the bottles are relatively light in weight, the front carriage 59, 60 is moved rapidly so that the inertia of the bottles will hold them against any considerable movement as the section 59 is being wrapped about the bases of the bottles and folded down against them. The section 57 will then always lie beneath the section 58 and be secured thereto by the adhesive coating on the area 73 on the blank. After completion of the multiple package, further movement of the front carriage moves the package off the ends of the bars 22 and over the top of the blocks 86 to fall upon the plate 78. When the front carriage has reached the end of its movement to the rear, the cylinder 64 automatically reverses and moves the carriage toward the front of the machine.

A switch 122 is mounted on top of the platform 14 adjacent the inner surface of one of the side plates 60 of the front carriage and a bar 123 is pivotally mounted on the inner surface of the side plate and hangs down from its pivot and in contact with a pin 124 lying to the rear of the arm. The bar 123 is in position to engage the operating arm 122a of the switch 122 and, when the carriage moves to the rear and the bar 123 engages the arm 122er, the bar 123 is swung on its pivot and passes over the arm without actuating the switch 122. On the return movement of the carriage, the bar 123 strikes the switch arm 122g and is held by the pin 124 against swinging movement. As a result, the bar 123 moves the switch arm 122a and actuates the switch to cause the cylinder` 92 to function.

The cylinder 92 moves the rear carriage comprising the side plates 88, the pusher plates 83, and the crossbars 84, 85 toward the rear of the machine and, in such movement, the pusher plates engage the multiple package and advance it beneath the roller 97 and between the slitter disks 93, 99. The multiple package is subdivided by the slitter rolls into the unit packages and these packages are deposited upon the conveyor belt 197 and discharged. When the rear carriage reaches the end of its movement to the rear, the cylinder 92 automatically reverses and moves the carriage to its original position near the front end of the platform 14. When the cylinders 64 and 92 have moved their carriages to 6 the starting positions shown in Fig. 2, the cylinders automatically go out of operation.

The use of the two push button switches 114, for starting the machine protects the operator against injury, in that the machine cannot be accidentally started by operation of a single switch and pushing the two buttons simultaneously requires that the operators hands be outside the path of any moving parts of the machine. The electrical circuits of the machine may contain additional safety features, such as an interlock which prevents the machine from starting if the carton blank former is not in its raised position. Also, means may be provided for reversing ythe movements of parts of the machine in the event that a jam develops.

I claim:

l. A machine for packaging a row of articles in a wrap around carton having openings for portions of the articles, which comprises a row of parallel downwardly inclined runways for respective articles, a support near the runways for a llat carton blank having openings and an adhesively coated area., means for moving the blank from the support and shaping it to provide an inclined wall resting upon the lower sections of the runways and a vertical wall transverse to the runways and containing the openings, means for delivering a row of articles to the runways at their upper end to slide on the runways and over the inclined wall of the blank until portions of the articles enter the openings, means folding the inclined wall of the blank forward around the ends of the articles and advancing the blank and articles, means engaging the vertical wall of the blank and folding it backward into overlapping relation with the inclined wall and with the adhesive coated area between the walls, and means for pressing together the overlapped portions of the walls.

2. The machine of claim 1, in which the lower sections of the runways are spaced and the folding and advancing means include reciprocating pushers traveling through the spaces between the runway sections.

3. The machine of claim 2, in which the pushers are vertical plates mounted on a carriage.

4. The machine of claim l, in which the delivering means includes a support for a row of articles, a wall extending from one side of the support, and means for oscillating the support and wall between positions, in which the wall is substantially vertical and in which it is downwardly inclined toward its free edge.

5. The machine of claim 4, in which the oscillating means includes a fluid cylinder.

6. The machine of claim 4, which includes a table in the level of the support and having an edge adjacent thereto, when the wall is vertical, and a barrier urged to move to a position at the edge of the table, when the support moves away from the table. Y

7. The machine of claim 6, in which the barrier is pivoted beneath the table and urged by a spring to its position at the edge of the table.

S. The machine of claim 1, in which the blank support includes spaced members engaging opposite edges of the blank from beneath, one of the members extending across the runways and the second lying beyond the lower end of the runways.

9. The machine of claim l, in which the moving and shaping means include a reciprocating support and a plurality of spaced parallel blades engageable from above with a blank on the support and, when in operative position, formi-ng continuations of the runways.

10. The machine of claim 9, in which the moving and shaping means include a vertical wall, which lies below part of the blank support and along which the blank is moved by the blades.

11. The machine of claim 10, in which the folding and advancing means include reciprocating pushers traveling beneath the vertical wall of the moving and shaping means and the lower edge of said vertical wall acts as the blank and articles advance, to fold the vertical wall of the blank backward.

12. The machine of claim 1, in which the runways include an upper plate having spaced parallel ribs and a plurality of spaced vertical plates lying opposite the spaces between the ribs of the upper plate.

13. The machine of claim 12, in which the vertical plates are mounted on respective spaced parallel bars and the folding and advancing means include reciprocating pushers traveling in the spaces between adjacent bars.

14. The machine of claim 12, in which the pushers advance the articles with the blank wrapped around them oi the bars, a second set of spaced bars is disposed at a lower level than the bars of the rst set and receives the wrapped articles, and reciprocating pushers travel in the spaces between the bars of the second set and advance the wrapped articles along the second set of bars.

15. The machine of claim 1, in which the pressing means are a plurality of spring-pressed rollers bearing against the overlapped portions of the carton blank walls.

16. The machine of claim 1, which includes means beyond the pressing means for engaging the wrapped blank and severing it between adjacent groups of articles.

17. The machine of claim 16, in which the severing means include upper and lower rows of spaced disks engaging the upper and lower surfaces of the wrapped blank.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,701,938 Murray Feb. 15, 1955 

